Green-Synthesis of Anisotropic Peptone-Silver Nanoparticles and Its Potential Application as Anti-Bacterial Agent

This study demonstrates a green-route-based synthesis of high-concentration suspensions of anisotropic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by peptone (Pep), a soluble protein hydrolysate and an abundantly used nutrient source in microbial-media. The transformation of Ag ions from solution into a high-concentration suspension of anisotropic Pep-AgNPs, at an extremely low concentration of peptone (0.02%), indicates that the present green-route synthesis method follows "low volume high concentration nano-synthesis", and, hence, enhances the economic significance of the process. Process optimization with different concentrations of AgNPs (1⁻5 mM), NaOH solution (5⁻40 mM), and peptone (0.004%⁻0.12%) gave the optimized Pep-AgNPs synthesis at 3 mM of AgNO₃, 20 mM of NaOH, and 0.02% of the peptone concentrations. The green-route synthesized Pep-AgNPs were structurally characterized by the TEM, XPS, FT-IR, and XRD analyses. The Pep-AgNPs against the clinically relevant bacteria Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus gave significant anti-bacterial properties, with a MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) of 100 ppm. The colony counting and morphological observation of the bacterial cell under SEM corroborated an anti-bacterial potential of the Pep-AgNPs. Therefore, Pep-AgNPs are green-route synthesized, anisotropic, and have a significant anti-bacterial potential that can be used in many relevant applications.